Physical files don't get deleted, don't get corrupted, and are easily retrieved from an A-Z filing system. They don't take up space on a backup drive. And tax files are so rarely accessed.

I have files that I prefer to keep physical. So, no. A $70 scanner is fine for me, and the software and hardware work quickly enough now that scanning a lot of documents is a pretty quick job, once you get going.

(I've also drawn and scanned a short comic book, so I do have some experience with scanning....)

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How does it work with Macs? I'm hoping it just scans and creates PDF files. That would be awesome.

It works brilliantly with Macs. It creates any number of file types - PDFs being one of them.

I use it to scan letters, etc. into PDF. Edit them in Preview - deleting unwanted pages - then import them into DevonThink Pro Office. I still file the physical version - useful when I'm out at a client's - but a lot of what I get now is electronic anyway so I decided to add the ability to scan quickly. One of the best buys, after the 24" iMac, I've made

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I have been in a scientific field for eight years now and have approximately 11 file drawers worth of paper that I am imputing into the computer using ScanSnap and its pdf feature that converts the files into searchable text. What a difference it has made to me!! I have 3 files drawers scanned, the scanner is very easy to use, the software is intuitive and I am able to find anything I need without the agony of "how to label the file so I can find it again". The scanner is quick, last night I scanned in approximately 8 linear inches of files in about an hour and a half.

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I have been in a scientific field for eight years now and have approximately 11 file drawers worth of paper that I am imputing into the computer using ScanSnap and its pdf feature that converts the files into searchable text. What a difference it has made to me!! I have 3 files drawers scanned, the scanner is very easy to use, the software is intuitive and I am able to find anything I need without the agony of "how to label the file so I can find it again". The scanner is quick, last night I scanned in approximately 8 linear inches of files in about an hour and a half.

Does the software place it in search-able text for Macs too? That's something I need to know before I plunk down $500. If the software is crippled for Macs, I'll be depressed (and then I'll load Boot Camp and run it in Vista, I guess - and then xfer the files to my Mac OS. Still, I'd like to skip that step).

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Yes, if you perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Since you mentioned ScanSnap & Mac, be sure to get the S510M, which is the version that includes software for Mac. It comes with Adobe Acrobat Professional, with which you can do the OCR.

An article in November '07 MacWorld mag turned me onto this. Like jennifergeorge and vatark, it's worked very well for me. Vatark mentioned using DevonThink Pro Office, which the article says is good, but I've found the bundled Adobe Acrobat Professional works fine.

Re: workflow ... I've created a Scans folder on my Mac desktop, which I've set as the destination folder for all new scans. Immediately after the scan or later if I'm in a rush, I open the resulting PDF and perform OCR, rename the document and move it to my Documents folder.

Hope this helps!

- Jon

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Yes, if you perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Since you mentioned ScanSnap & Mac, be sure to get the S510M, which is the version that includes software for Mac. It comes with Adobe Acrobat Professional, with which you can do the OCR.

An article in November '07 MacWorld mag turned me onto this. Like jennifergeorge and vatark, it's worked very well for me. Vatark mentioned using DevonThink Pro Office, which the article says is good, but I've found the bundled Adobe Acrobat Professional works fine.

Re: workflow ... I've created a Scans folder on my Mac desktop, which I've set as the destination folder for all new scans. Immediately after the scan or later if I'm in a rush, I open the resulting PDF and perform OCR, rename the document and move it to my Documents folder.

Hope this helps!

- Jon

Okay - I'm missing a step. How, and using what software, do you perform OCR?

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Okay - I'm missing a step. How, and using what software, do you perform OCR?

Once you complete a scan, open the document in Adobe Acrobat Professional. Then choose Document Menu > OCR Text Recognition > Recognize Text Using OCR. Once it's done, the text of your PDF will be searchable in Apple Spotlight.

Hope this helps.

- Jon

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I've been using a Fujitsu ScanSnap for over a year now and LOVE it! It is fast, does both sides of the paper at once and the output is in color or black and white automatically. The only thing MINE can't do is different sizes of paper at once, but I think the newer models do.

Mine came with Adobe Standard 7.0 but I just purchased an upgrade to Professional 8. The main reason is that I wanted the OCR feature as well as the redaction (black/white out) feature.

I scan and save all of my bills and important papers on the PC and back them up to DVDs.